Thel is the main character of this fairly brief poetic book. She’s a mournful figure, troubled by the idea of death and the ephemeral nature of life. When she voices these thoughts, various elements of nature speak to her of their own natural fates and how they accept their roles in the world. The cloud speaks to her of how she passes away with the wind and without complaint, etc. Then there’s an exploration of the joys of life contrasted with the sorrows which seems like a bit of a dry run for Blake’s Songs of Innocence & Experience collection, which was soon to come. I found a lot of really beautiful stuff in this one; the exploration of accepting the natural process particularly had a lot of gorgeous passages. 3 stars.

tl;dr – a brief poem discussing the natural processes of life and the various joys & sorrows that attend it; short, but beautifully rendered, with vivid & gorgeous imagery. 3 stars.